Luckydog Adventures: Finally! A trip to the Cévennes

Looking out from a viewpoint on the road to Mont Aigoual

The other day we took off on a spontaneous expedition. Our goal was the Cévennes, a mountainous area north of Montpellier.

The Cevennes is well known in France. There's a national park, for one thing; Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a book about it, Travels with a Donkey through the Cévennes, an account of his hike through the area with his donkey, Modestine. in 1879. But somehow, actually experiencing it ourselves has escaped us.

A final nudge to visit came in the guise of a movie, The Man in the Hat, in which a docile and confused-looking Ciaran Hinds takes his tiny Fiat 500 through the idyllic French countryside, having various encounters and mini-adventures. In the film he flashes past some familiar landscapes (the Camargue, just east of here) before passing into the lush greenery of the mountains to the north.

Studying the movie credits afterwards I took notes of the filming locations, most of which were in the, yes, Cévennes.

So, we had to go.

We booked lodging for the night in Le Vigan, a small town where several scenes were filmed, and set off in the morning through the usual Montpellier traffic. After about a half-hour of annoying city congestion we made it to the open road, and had an enjoyable drive along the rural roads.

A surprise discovery: this classic, classic stone bridge. Named, not surprisingly,
Vieux Pont de Vigan, the old bridge of Vigan.

Around 2PM, after several stops to admire the countryside, we arrived in Le Vigan. Our first task was to get orientated and find our lodging. We had a comfortable studio apartment for the night just a few steps from the center of town.

A small waterfall, just downstream from the bridge

Lovely view from the bridge in Le Vigan.

We spent the afternoon exploring, finding delightful hidden corners. We were successful in tracking down some specific filming locations, and were reminded that movies are in the fantasy business. A few touch-ups to the façade, the right camera angle, shooting in the golden light of the setting sun, and a place looks so much more romantic that when you come across it in the middle of an ordinary afternoon! But we scratched that itch—finding those filming sites—and enjoyed our explorations of this small town.

A trail along the river in Le Vigan.

As the afternoon wore on we realized that having a glass of wine in our room in the evening might be a fine thing, so we looked for a shop. It seems food was the one thing not sold here. No, wait, here's an épicerie, a small convenience store with most of what you might want for a meal or two. But, no wine! We left, wondering what the next step was.

And there, right above us, two shops away, was a sign thrusting out above the street: VIN. Wine. Just what we needed!

Inside was something that we had heard described, but had never seen: bulk wine dispensers. Wine barrels connected to gas station-style nozzles and hoses dispensing wine directly into your own containers.

The wine shop owner, filling our bottles from his bulk wine supply.

We got to chatting with the owner. This setup used to be common but is now rare. While it's a fine way of serving wine in bulk, apparently keeping the tanks and the hoses clean is a constant concern, and consumes lots of water. Every time the truck comes to refill his tanks, everything must be washed and thoroughly rinsed. Much easier, and more efficient, he said, is for the winery to "box up" the wine. (Yes, box wine, sold in cardboard boxes, much lighter and more convenient that glass bottles... and no return required!)

But still, the concept of buying wine in bulk was irresistible. He, of course, had plenty of (new, plastic) bottles available, and we left with four liters of pretty good wine costing about €2 a bottle.

A field just outside of town; no, not grape vines. We don't know what's growing here!

We'd had fine lunch at an unassuming but very good restaurant, so evening found us not so hungry. We ended up at a local cafe having glasses of beer and wine. Oh, and peanuts. My insistence on extra peanuts amused the waitress; later, while paying the bill, I reminded her of the peanut refill. She laughed; the nuts are, of course, free with drinks.

Le Bon Coin (the Good Corner), the unassuming café where we had evening drinks and morning coffee.
(This photo is from Google Street View, because... it just didn't seem interesting enough to photograph at the time!)

We had a good, low-key evening, and the next morning were ready to explore further. But first, we looked for a bit of breakfast, and found ourselves back at the same cafe, where we fortified ourselves with coffee and croissants. Standing around the counter were the locals, chatting up the server, the same one we'd had the night before. She saw me and smiled: Did you sleep well? she inquired. I almost felt like a local.

Spring flowers add color to the rocky walls.

We were soon on the road to Mont Aigoual, the highest peak in the area, about 25 miles and almost an hour away. The road wound up and up, and for once I was glad to have an automatic transmission, which was constantly shifting to find the right gear as we sped up, then slowed around corners.

Paula hunts wildflowers along the road.
(Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic!)

Ah, spring! Colors everywhere.

Looking south and east from the slopes of Mont Aigoual.

We made a few stops on the way up to enjoy the view and the spring foliage. The temperature kept dropping, and by the time we arrived the dash thermometer showed 8°C/47°F. And the wind! Blowing hard. The views were great from this elevation (1567m / 5141 ft), but it was most unpleasant, and we did not stay long. We took some photos and headed back down.

We made it! view from the top.

The "castle" at Mont Aigoual. It was too windy to explore; we snapped some photos and got back in the warm car!

Communication towers at the summit. Look at those guy wires, and the massive ground anchors!
The wind howls up here.
(Another photo courtesy of Google Street View.)

Two hours later and 1500 feet lower we stopped for lunch at the Cirque de Navacelles.

We see that word "cirque" a lot in the names of geologic locations. I have finally learned that it is a geological term indicating an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial or fluvial erosion (so a river runs through it; or did, anyway), which finally clears something up for me: the word itself means "circus" in French. While I had no expectation of clowns and elephants, I was wondering...

The Cirque de Navacelles. Note the bed of the ancient river loop, circling the rock outcropping.
there is a village down there, too, although we did not stop on the way out.

The restaurant at the overlook actually had good food for a decent price, so after a fine lunch we walked the route connecting the three viewpoints and got a good look at this, er, cirque. Fluvial erosion indeed! Like a mini-Grand Canyon, but without the colors.